Turkey's Erdogan Denounces U.S. Support For Syrian Kurdish Group

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during the monthly meeting of local administrators at the presidential complex in Ankara on February 10.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized the United States over its support for Syria's main Kurdish group.

In a speech in Ankara on February 10, Erdogan said Washington was creating a "sea of blood" in the region by failing to recognize as terrorists members of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing.

On February 9, Turkey summoned the U.S. envoy to Ankara in protest after a State Department spokesman said Washington did not regard the PYD as a terrorist organization and would continue to support the group's operations in Syria.

Ankara sees the PYD as a branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party, which is fighting for Kurdish autonomy in southeastern Turkey.

Erdogan's comments come as Ankara faces pressure to allow in tens of thousands of Syrians stranded on the border with Turkey.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters